Fandom, Temples and Cool Monks

Faced a little fan stardom today with a number of Asian tourists taking photos of me, they weren’t very discreet about it! Felt like offering them a selfie but resisted the temptation!

After travelling for around 15 hours we arrived in a pitch black Bangkok around 18:30 local time. We managed to hail a pink taxi outside and made the 25 mile journey into the centre for an astonishing £8! How far would you get in London for that amount? The end of the street maybe?

We spent our first night in the wrong hotel after noticing that our tour was not listed on their notice board (view from our room above) I managed to stay calm, it was nothing compared to Nairobi airport catching fire two days before I landed two years ago. We checked our itinerary and realised the hotel we should have been stopping in was a short 5 minute walk away (terrace picture below).

We hailed and haggled a Tuk Tuk to our first destination saving ourselves the equivalent of a pound – winning! After a few hair raising misses we arrived at the beautiful Grand Palace.

The Grand Palace was built in 1752 and went on to be the home of Thai royalty for some 150 years. It’s a ‘must see’ in Bangkok and it is clear why the craftsmanship is really impressive and it looks beautiful! I purchased some jazzy ‘elephant pants’ as shorts above the knee are prohibited. You can find out more about the Palace here: http://www.bangkok.com/attraction-palace/grand-palace.htm

Next was onto Wat Pho home of the Recling Buddha. Another complex of impressively designed buildings and many shrines to former Monks, with golden Buddha’s as grave stones to their ashes. More detail on: http://www.bangkok.com/attraction-temple/wat-po.htm

We returned to our new hotel via the flower market – far cheaper than the forecourt for a bunch! Dodging mopeds in the narrow streets of China town was next for a spot of shopping. Purchasing some nice gifts.
A highlight of the day was two aviator wearing Monks in the back a Tuk Tuk playing with their smart phones 😂!